New Alliances
by D4rkHuntress
Summary: The story begins just after Karone is recaptured by Darkspecter and his goons, but there is a twist to this story. Zhane returns to Earth before Karone invades the Darkfortress, see what ensues...
1. Chapter 1

**New Alliances**

"_I have to go after her," Zhane's announcement shocked everyone on board the Astro Megaship. Everyone including his best friend, Andros. Zhane had come on board the Astro Megaship just before Karone left for the Dark Fotress in her attempt to reprogram the asteroid that Darkspecter had sent to destroy Earth. Andros recalled how Zhane's face at first paled when he saw Karone dressed up like Astronema and standing right in the middle of the ship's bridge. The sight would have terrified Andros too had he been away when it was discovered that Astronema was really non other than Karone, Andros's long lost sister. Had Andros not known she had deflected from Darkspecter's side he would have suspected an attack, just as Zhane must have. That was not the reaction that had confused Andros. No, it was the blush that came to his friend's face shortly after he must have realized there was no real danger on board the Megaship. Karone had responded to Zhane's stare with a half hearted smile. Andros had hoped that his sister was not too offended by his often too-eager-with-the-ladies, but-typically-harmless friend. _

_The exchanges did not stop there though. When Zhane heard of Karone's plan to invade the Darkfortress he became animate about the choice and even went as far to tell Andros, who did not need to be told, how the plan was too dangerous. Zhane tried perhaps even harder than Andros to persuade Karone from taking on the mission she had laid out for herself. He did not convince her even after he had pulled her to the side to talk to her privately. Just what had they talked about anyway? Andros did not know and perhaps he would never know. It was like Zhane knew Karone personally, but in reality they had never met before. Now Zhane wanted to rush off to the Darkfortress by himself to try to rescue Karone._

"_Zhane, it's too dangerous," Cassie Chan argued with the silver ranger._

"_Going on board the Fortress was too dangerous for Karone as well, but you didn't stop her," Zhane was quick to point out to Cassie and the rest of the rangers who blocked his path out of the Megaship's bridge._

"_And we can all see how that was a mistake," TJ Johnson was the first to admit. His confession was made so calmly, but that did not manage to sooth Zhane's nerves._

"_Yeah, and I see how eager all of you are to try to correct that mistake too," Zhane snapped back. It was uncharacteristic of Zhane to be so upset over anything. He was normally the voice of reason in tough situations._

"_Zhane," Ashley Hammond spoke reproachfully._

"_If none of you are willing to step up to the plate, then _I_ am," Zhane ignored Ashley and cut off anything she may have added. He appeared ready to push through his teammates to leave the bridge, but Andros, who had been mildly paying attention to the exchanges spoke up before this could happen._

"_I'll go with you," Andros announced. His own voice, weak from the shock of losing his sister just after he had finally been reunited with her after so many years, caught him off guard. He knew he had to help get his sister back, but even he could see that the journey inside Astronema's old ship would be a perilous one. It was a risk Andros knew he had to take though. He shook his head to ward away the shock he was feeling and then looked directly at his ranger comrades, all of whom were giving him their full attention now. Drawing on strength he did not realize he still had, Andros repeated his announcement firmly. "I'll go with Zhane. He's right, we can't just leave her behind after she risked so much to help us."_

"_Andros," Ashley pleaded as she stepped out of line with her group of Earth bound rangers. She stepped close enough to Andros to touch his stiff shoulder. "You can't risk it. If you and Zhane get captured while you're on the Darkfortress then we'll all be in a lot more trouble than we started with."_

"_We have to try." It was Andros's thoughts, but they came from Zhane._

"_Guys," this came from Carlos Valerte, "I think we need to take a step back and regroup on this. There _has_ to be another way."_

"_Right," Cassie agreed with a few nods. _

"_We're wasting time," Zhane snapped with a shake of his head. He quickly moved to leave the bridge of the ship through the hole Ashley had left in the wall of ranger that had been defending the exit._

_Andros moved to follow only to feel Ashley's grip tighten on his shoulder. He looked over to see her eyes looking up at him, silently pleading him to reconsider his decision. It was a decision Andros would not be changing. No, he had searched for his sister for far too long to just give up on her now._

Andros woke up with a start, trying to sit up only to find every muscle in his body protesting the movement. He tried to cry out but only a pained moan came instead as his body fell limp back against the medical bed once again. All he could do was stare up at the flashing green lights over head in the dark room. Those lights almost instantly blurred from the tears that came to his eyes. Those tears were brought on by both his physical and mental pain. His thoughts and dreams had been haunted for days, he was not sure how many had passed, after he had once again lost his sister to Darkspecter. Not only had he lost Karone, but Zhane as well.

Zhane had led most of the way through the Darkfortress, he almost seemed to actually know where he was going inside the enemies ship. It was during this time that Andros had learned that Zhane had an interest in his sister, that he had actually even dated her before he knew who she really was. That had confused as much as it had infuriated him. How could someone possibly consider dating the same person he was at war with? Andros had to consider the source behind that question. If Zhane saw a girl who remotely attracted him he would no doubt be after her, even the princess of evil herself.

When the two companions found Karone inside the Darkfortress it had already been too late to save her. Andros was not so quick to catch on to that, but even he knew when it was time to surrender a plan and move to escape. Karone had been brainwashed and was now being controlled by some sort of machinery that Darkspecter's goons had placed inside of her. When Astronema called on Ecliptor to help aide her against her would be rescuers he was on the scene in a moments notice, followed by a legion of Quantrons. It had torn at Andros's heart and his conscious to make the decision to leave, but he and Zhane, even with their powers, were out numbered. They had to get out.

Zhane had actually been the one that convinced Andros that they had to retreat, or at least Andros had thought this was the case. He was not so sure anymore, everything had happened so quickly that his memory of that day seemed to distort and change itself everything three seconds. It frustrated Andros that he could not remember the details correctly, but he did know, all too well, the end results.

Somewhere along the way, during their retreat, Andros and Zhane became separated. On purpose it would seem, since Zhane had announced to Andros that he had a plan. The next thing Andros remembered was Zhane reversing course. Instead of heading for their escape route in the hanger bay, Zhane rushed through a wide corridor. Andros could see immediately that whatever his friend was up to it was not a good idea. He tried to follow after Zhane, but was quickly stopped by a wall of Quantrons.

"Get out," Zhane instructed over his communication device.

"I'm not leaving with out you," Andros managed to respond before being thrown off balance by a blow to his left side. He fell into a roll before coming back up onto his feet again.

"Go!" Zhane's communication was weak and distorted, but Andros got the message. With a sinking feeling in his stomach the scene from two years earlier had started to replay in his mind. Zhane, jumping in front of Andros, took the blow that had been meant for him during that fight on KO-35. Zhane had almost lost his life that day and once again Andros gathered that his friend went on that same kind of suicide mission. As much as it had pained him to do it, Andros turned and continued on his journey to the Velocifighters. It had not been an easy battle to escape, Andros still did not know how he made it back to the Megaship alive.

With another groan Andros forced his pain studded muscles and joints to move. He managed to get his right hand over to the left side of his bed where he pulled the rest of his body over and off of the bed. He barely managed to get his feet under him in time and even then almost collapsed to the ground anyway. Shuttering at the pain that rippled through his body only brought on another wave of pain that made his vision darken. Andros managed a wince, but did not dare move otherwise for a full minute. He took a few slow breaths to try to regain some strength to move. He was glad that none of is Earth friends had stuck around tonight to monitor him. It would have made getting out of that bed impossible, not to mention he really did not like them seeing him in this state of mind or body.

Somehow Andros managed to make it to the bridge of the Astro Megaship. It had been a slow and painful journey. Now that he was here a new wave of emotions washed over him. Sadness, despair, regret, and even some hopelessness began to creep up on him. Would he ever get Karone back? Andros lifted his head up to stare at the viewport, it was the same viewport that had shown him his last image of his sister. Instead of monitoring his sister, it now just showed the emptiness of the space that the Megaship lazily wandered through. Andros's thoughts drifted toward his best friend. Where was he now? Was he even still alive? These were thoughts that Andros was all too familiar with. Now those thoughts and the feelings that came with them were twofold. He wondered if there was any hope in helping Karone now that she had been brainwashed. He wondered if he would ever see Zhane alive again. The only thing Andros was thankful for right now was that he was alone so that no one saw the tears that were now flowing freely down his face.

* * *

An all too familiar sinister laugh came from a nearby corridor. Zhane lifted his head, a move that seemed to cause electricity to course down from his neck into his back. He did not flinch away from the movement though as he watched for Darkonda to emerge, as he often had, from the direction his laugh rolled into the prison from. When he did appear his body quivered with a new round of laughter, this time it came from amusement.

"I never get tired of the sight of a ranger just _hanging,_ around the Darkfortress," Darkonda spoke once he finished laughing. "And the most powerful of all of them for that matter." Darkonda's laugh turned dark. "Of course with out your morpher you're just as harmless as any human out there now aren't you?"

Though he was weak from being beaten and from not having proper nourishment for possibly a week Zhane glared angrily at his captor. This of course only caused Darkonda to laugh again.

"Darkonda," Astronema's monotone voice quickly cut Darkonda's laugh off. At least someone around here could shut the creature up.

"Yes, you're highness," Darkonda said as he turned towards the direction he had entered the room from. He bowed from the waist as a show of respect that he did not have for the princess of evil.

"Leave," Astronema instructed.

"But I was just about to-"

"Leave," Astronema repeated in the same manner that she had spoken the word before. Although Zhane was not familiar with expressions from Darkonda's species he could get the sense that the rebel was seething at being told what to do by someone he felt was inferior to him. It brought a small bit of pleasure to Zhane to witness this exchange between Darkonda and Astronema, but just enough to bring a smirk to his face.

When Astronema stepped in to take Darkonda's place in the room Zhane felt his heart drop and his empty stomach turn over. He did not think that it would matter how many times he saw her, Astronema's new appearance would always be painful to take in. Her pale skin only served to make her red eyes appear even brighter, causing her to look like she was just a breath away from death. And the electronics that pocked through her skin sent chills down Zhane's back.

Astronema's visits with Zhane came far and few between. When she did come she did as she was doing now. She did not speak a word, rather instead she would stand gazing blankly up at him. He would give just about anything to know what her thoughts were, if she had any of her own. Sometimes Zhane thought he saw a glimpse of sadness in Astronema's eyes, but he knew better than to believe that this was anymore than wishful thinking.

"Astronema," Zhane croaked through his dry throat. He always tried to talk to her, but it never brought a response from her.

"You can serve a better purpose than being a wall hanging on my ship," Astronema spoke evenly. That was more than Zhane ever got from the woman, but he did not like the sound of this. The smirk that came to Astronema's face just before she walked out of the prison room proved to frighten Zhane even further. He could already picture how Astronema was going to use him to lure the rangers into a trap. Zhane knew that his friends were more than capable of fighting Darkspecter's goons with out him, but it was not going to be an easy battle. They were going to have to fight with everything they had, and they were going to have to be willing to make sacrifices. Zhane lowered his head, the movement cause more fatigue in his shoulders and back, but just for a moment. His physical pain was nothing to match with the sorrow he felt for his friends, and for Astronema.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Astronema left the prison room in search of her general, Ecliptor. While walking through one of many of the dark corridors of the Darkfortress she stopped a passing Quantron.

"Tell Darkonda to go to Earth," Astronema instructed. "We need to keep the rangers busy so that they don't have time to regroup."

The Quantron nodded its acknowledgement of its orders and hurried on to fulfill the duty just given to him. Astronema stood in the corridor for a moment to calculate her plan. She was not sending Darkonda to Earth just to distract the rangers. No, if she wanted someone to do that she could send a more competent minion to do so. The truth behind the order was that she wanted Darkonda distracted as much as she wanted the rangers distracted, if not more so. The rangers would see their end soon enough. Astronema considered the important thing here was to keep Darkonda from learning of her plans. He was not a trustworthy being, he had made his whole life off of being a bounty hunter and a backstabber. The only person Darkonda sought to help was himself.

There was truthfully only one being that Astronema trusted, that was her long time adviser and general, Ecliptor. He would be the only one assisting her in the plans that she had made. Soon, she suspected, the two of them would become the most feared villains of the galaxy.

* * *

The warning alarms on board the Astro Megaship jolted Andros out of his dazed state. He stood up and, fighting his fatigued muscles just to remain upright, limped over to the control panel of the bridge. As soon as he had he reached the data screen the remaining members of his team rushed onto the bridge. Andros heard their footsteps come to an abrupt halt and he could see their disapproving gazes in his peripheral vision. The uneasy glances his teammates exchanged with each another did not faze him. They all had work to do now and Andros was starting to feel the need for revenge creep up into his chest.

"Darkonda's attacking Angel Grove," Andros announced to his teammates as he spun around. The team turned their attention to the view screen where Deca had brought up a live visual of the attack. Andros was glad for the distraction because it took attention off of him, which meant the other rangers did not see him reach out to the console to catch his balance after his dizzying spin.

"He's right in the center of the outlet mall," Carlos surmised.

"We need to get down there right away," TJ announced while shaking his head with disgust.

"Let's go," Andros instructed and pushed himself away from the console he was using for support.

"Hold it," Cassie commanded as she took a step to her left to intercept Andros. "Last night you weren't even able to move. We'll handle this."

Andros would have shook his head in protest, but he knew better than to try that. Instead he just stepped around the pink ranger to exit the bridge. She was not going to convince him to stay behind.

"Andros!" Ashley came next. Instead of walking ahead of him to try to block his path Ashley took a more aggressive route by grabbing onto the red ranger's arm while he walked. The pain that coursed through his shoulder caused Andros to stop and turn with the yellow ranger's grasp. "You can't-"

"Don't tell me what I can't do," Andros chastised his teammate. He meant to be stern in his demand, but with the anguish he found himself in physically the words came out sounding rough and loud, no doubt giving the impression that he angry. In truth he was angry, but he did not want to take it out on his teammates. It was Darkonda that Andros wanted to fight and nothing would stop him from that. With a jerk of his arm Andros freed himself and continued to lead the way to the jump tubes, he even somehow found the strength to run.

* * *

"The first five will receive their power from Darkspecter himself," Astronema spoke aloud even though Ecliptor already knew about her plan. He was the one that had come up with the way to tap into the overlord's power. Ecliptor had figured out how to do this by Astronema's suggestion to follow the lead from Zordon's power drain. It had been immediately after he informed Astronema of his success in finding a way to drain Darkspecter's powers that she put her plan into action.

The bodies had taken about two days to construct. Ecliptor still had some final touches to work on with their computers and the power chips that were going to be located deep with in the chests of each machine. Astronema handled the programming herself. She wanted each machine's system to be perfect. They would be evil, and would have no conscience to speak of. No doubt they would be troublesome to handle, but that was the price Astronema was willing to pay to defeat the rangers and possibly take her rightful place as the supreme overlord, or, as she would prefer to be called, the queen of evil.

* * *

The red ranger's landing was as ungraceful as they came when his knees buckled underneath him. If he did not have his powers supporting him right now Andros knew that the impact of hitting the ground could have looked and felt much worse. Trying to pick himself up off the ground with some dignity Andros immediately called on his weapon, the Spiral Saber. Carlos and Cassie worked together to get civilians to safety while Ashley and TJ joined Andros in fighting off oncoming Quantrons.

Andros did more than just take on the Quantrons when they came at him, he pushed forward in an attempt to get to their current leader, Darkonda. When he did manage to make it past the metal beings Darkonda turned his attention away from harassing the civilians and began to laugh.

"Well, look who it is," Darkonda spoke. "Didn't Ecliptor give you enough of a beating back on the Darkfortress?" He shook his head as if answering his own question. "Of course not. He's too incompetent to take on such a task." Darkonda lifted a hand to his chest proudly. "I on the other hand completed my task."

"What did you do with him?" Andros yelled, inquiring angrily of the fate of his friend.

"The silver ranger?" Darkonda questioned as if he did not know any better. This only served to infuriate Andros further, it was as if Darkonda caught on to this when he laughed. "Oh, I'm sure he's _hanging_ around somewhere."

Andros felt his grip on his saber intensify in anger of Darkonda's news, but he had to take some comfort in that it sounded like Zhane was at least still alive.

"You'll pay for what you've done, Darkonda," Andros promised his nemesis.

Darkonda laughed ferociously. "With just five rangers? The odds have never looked better for me beating you once and for all."

"We may be one down, but you will never win!" Adrenaline fueled the response from Andros. He was no longer aware of his fatigue when he charged toward Earth's malicious attacker. Their blades met and deflected as their strengths canceled each other out. On the recoil Andros stepped passed Darkonda after a failed swipe to his midsection. After clearing the villain Andros spun the weight of his weapon around to try to catch Darkonda off guard. That did not happen, Darkonda's blade was already set in place to guard his side from the blind attack. Darkonda stepped into the attack immediately and sent his free elbow into Andros's chest. The red ranger stumbled backwards. Weary on his feet Andros stumbled easy over an upturned piece of a cement block and fell awkwardly onto his back.

Darkonda was quick to jump on his new found advantage by using his blade to chop down at Andros. The red ranger wanted to move out of the way, but his body would not comply to his commands. Instead he had to settle on bringing his saber up to block the attack. Andros barely had the strength to keep his own blade from snapping back and hitting him.

"Witness the beginning of the end of your time, red ranger," Darkonda said before laughed and raising his blade once again.

Even as Darkonda's blade was rising three pink lasers shot passed Andros to land marks on the villain's shoulder, chest, and abdomen. The attack was not strong, but it was enough to cause Darkonda to take a step backwards. The weapon's fire was quickly followed up by a lunge attack from the black ranger with his Lunar Lance. Carlos was able to get a clear shot at Darkonda's chest, knocking the bounty hunter to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Cassie's voice came as Andros felt a pair of hands grab him by the shoulders and lift him up.

"I'm okay," Andros grunted.

"Not for long you won't," Darkonda growled. The trio of rangers managed to turn their attention back to Darkonda just as he threw some clear coated ball in Cassie and Andros's direction. Andros did not have enough time to react to the plasma filled weapon before it made contact with the middle of his chest. He was barely aware of the explosion that followed, but he knew that he had been forced back down to the ground. Cassie cried out as well, no doubt she had taken some of the powerful blow as well.

"Cassie! Andros!" Carlos's voice came to Andros at a volume that was no louder than a whisper. Andros felt his powers draining, but he fought it as best as he could.

"Look out!" TJ's warning came a little louder than Carlos's exclamation earlier.

* * *

"I fear Darkonda will flee his battle soon," Ecliptor warned Astronema from where he stood on the other side of the dark room.

"I've finished the programming for the original five," Astronema informed her general on her progress. "They will just need to be activated."

The part of Astronema's plan that she had not discussed with Ecliptor was the part that she was currently working on.

"I'm going to need you to bring the silver ranger here," Astronema told Ecliptor.

"I don't understand," Ecliptor replied. "Why would you bring the silver ranger in here?"

Astronema picked up the silver ranger's morpher to study it. It was quite the masterpiece in technology, but it was about to get an upgrade. Astronema could not help but smile at the thought of her master plan coming together. This plan would be perfect, fool proof, it would be sure to place her on top of the podium once and for all. The universe was about to bow to her wishes.

"Bring him here," Astronema repeated her wishes confidently. "Don't worry, he's so weak right now he will not give you any trouble." Just before Exliptor exited the room Astronema spoke up again. "Are the power chips ready for activation?"

"Yes," Ecliptor answered with a respectable bow at the waist. "I have started activating each machine's chip at a low magnitude for now. We do not want to draw Darkspecter's attention. I suggest that we increase power slowly."

"Agreed," Astronema acknowledged. Ecliptor gave a final bow before leaving the room to fulfill his duties. The plan was coming together perfectly. The rangers just needed to distract Darkonda for a short while longer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

His vision was dimmed and blurred, but Andros managed to stay conscious after taking the unexpected attack from Darkonda. He could hear the battle still raging between his teammates and the bounty hunter in the distance, but he could also see Cassie struggling to get to her feet. Andros knew by the distance Cassie had traveled after taking the blow that he had just withstood a powerful hit.

"Andros," Cassie was at his side again. Her voice was pained when she asked, "Are you okay?"

Andros groaned as he forced himself over onto his side, a movement that threatened to plunge him into the darkness of unconsciousness. Just as the darkness around the rims of his eyes seemed to meet in the middle it faded away and Andros felt his strength start to return to him.

"I'll be fine," Andros assured weakly. He looked to his left where his Spiral Saber lay useless until he snatched it up again. "But this battle's not over yet."

Gathering what strength he had left in him Andros stood up, perhaps he managed this feat by determination alone, he did not know. All that mattered right now was somehow finding revenge with Darkonda. How had the villain been so stupid to show his face today? Had they been fighting anyone else, Andros probably would have been counted out of this fight from the start. He felt like his anger was the only thing fueling him right now.

Before making a move Andros observed Darkonda battling the three other rangers. The villain was holding his own against the rangers, actually he was managing to do more than that. Darkonda was coward, but he did have good swordsmanship and he was putting it to good use against his three opponents. The site added more energy to Andros's fury. Was it because of what Darkonda had done to Karone and Zhane? Was it because Darkonda was proving that he could be a worthy adversary in a battle for once? Or was it actually Andros's teammates that were not getting their job done that Andros found himself upset with right now? It did not matter what the cause behind Andros's fury was, this battle needed to end, now.

"Let's go," Andros told Cassie before he led the way back into the fight.

* * *

Zhane slowly looked up when he thought he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. The pain that should have crept down from his neck into his back was no longer in existence. He felt so weak that he could barely make the movement at all.

Seeing the black and green image of Ecliptor walk into view surprised Zhane. He figured this would be Astronema again, or worse, Darkonda. Zhane felt like he was in a hazy dream as he watched Ecliptor open the door to his cell. No, it was more like a nightmare. Zhane felt numb to the pain that he had to be in, but he could still feel the panic as he watched Ecliptor reach up to release him from his bindings. Zhane soon discovered that he was not as numb to his body as he thought he was when the bindings let loose in a snap and he fell in a motionless heap to the floor of the cell. It felt like he was hit by a high leveled electric pulse when he first made contact with the ground, but that feeling was soon replaced by a worse feeling. All the muscles that had been pulled away from their natural setting and forced to remain in that one position for who knew how many days were now being filled with a hot coursing fire. Zhane could feel his body shuttering at the shock it was taking.

"Get up," Ecliptor demanded even as he grabbed Zhane by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up off of the ground. It was hard for Zhane to find his footing, it had been so long since his legs had known the feeling of weight being pressed down on them after all. He stumbling all through the corridors that Ecliptor led him through. He was led in so many different directions that it was not long before Zhane had lost his sense of the path they had taken. Ecliptor stopped only once to enter a key into a control panel to unlock a door. That door slid open slowly with a hiss. Zhane felt like fighting his captor to avoid being dragged into the room, but he simply did not have the strength to lift even an elbow against his foe. Ecliptor took five steps into the room and stopped as the door behind him closed. The smell of hot electricity and smoldering metal burned the back of Zhane's throat. Ecliptor announced, "I have brought the prisoner."

"Good." The voice brought Zhane's attention away from his concentration over trying to keep his feet under him and catch his breath to searching the room around me. His eyes combed over differentiating equipment, which uses appeared to range anything from perhaps torture to building the next greatest super weapon the galaxy had ever known. What caught Zhane's eye though was Astronema. Her back was exposed to Zhane at first, but she slowly turned to face her general and the silver ranger. Again, Zhane felt his heart sink at the sight of the beautiful woman turned half machine. She spoke in that new monotone voice of hers, "Bring him in and help me set him up."

Ecliptor hesitated for no more than two seconds before following his master to the center of the room. Zhane could not hold back a cry of anguish when Ecliptor suddenly lifted his sore, stiff arms back up to the position they had been moments earlier in the prison. His breath became jagged against the pain being inflicted on him while Ecliptor worked to chain his hands up once again.

Astronema pulled over a piece of equipment from a nearby console and then walked behind the silver ranger. Zhane could not get the details on what she had just brought over, but could feel something cold and heavy being lowered onto his head. Next he felt thin wires slowing being coaxed into one ear and then the other. He was barely aware of Ecliptor tying his feet down onto something on the ground. Zhane felt hopeless in his situation and fear was starting to sink in. He was not sure if he would even be alive in the next hour. He did not want this to be the end of the road for him, but he could do nothing to save himself.

When Ecliptor stood Astronema nodded to the machine before pointing back to the console she had retrieved the device that was now located on Zhane's head from. Ecliptor returned the nod before walking over to the console and grabbing a circular piece of metal that was hooked up with some sort of tube that led back to the console. Zhane swallowed dryly as Ecliptor returned with the device. Astronema helped Ecliptor wrap the item high around Zhane's chest. The item was much heavier than it looked.

"This should give us the results we want," Astronema spoke thoughtfully.

"I am certain you have done a complete job of preparing the device," Ecliptor spoke dutifully. Zhane caught a vibe that Ecliptor was just as confused about what was going on as he was.

"Astronema," Zhane whispered to get the woman's attention. She turned slowly to face him. Zhane tried to swallow again, this time to moisten his dry throat, but the effort was useless. He tried to speak again, but the attempt almost sent him into a coughing fit.

"I wouldn't worry, silver ranger," Astronema spoke evenly and took a step towards Zhane. She reached out a hand to touch his face. Her fingers rolled down his cheeks almost seductively. Her eyes met Zhane's before she continued, "You will be quite useful soon."

"What are you going to do?" Zhane managed to croak out. Astronema smirked evilly and her eyes grew hard with determination.

"It's not what I'm going to do, silver ranger," Astronema answered. "It's about what you will do to help me defeat the rangers."

With those words Astronema ran the palm of her left hand down Zhane's face until her fingertips touched his chin. She placed pressure on the side of Zhane's head to indicate that he should look to her left. She stepped away from him to walk over to the wall Zhane was now staring at. Had he had the strength to do so he would have tried to plead with Astronema not to continue on with her plan, but all Zhane could do was watch in silent dread. What was Astronema up to? What was going to happen to him? Would there be away for him to help his friends get out of whatever she had planned?

Grasping a large dark clothe on the wall Astronema pulled it down to reveal five ghostly machines that were mostly hidden behind thick pillars of smoke. Zhane's breath caught in his throat at the site of the machines. Once the smoked thinned slightly Zhane could see that the machines were humanoid, each with its own distinct color. It unnerved Zhane greatly that the colors on the machines matched those of his five remaining ranger teammates.

Astronema turned to gaze at Zhane once again, the smirk on her face looked to be full of malicious intent.

"You, silver ranger," Astronema spoke as she walked over to the console her general now stood at. "Will be the one leading my new army."

"No," Zhane felt himself start to panic. The pieces of Astronema's plan were starting to be placed together for him. His heart lurched in his chest when he caught sight of his morpher sitting on top of the console in front of Astronema and Ecliptor. Wires were connected to the device that had much of its protective exterior removed. Astronema was about to do the same thing to him that Dark Specter had his minions do to her. After being brainwashed, Zhane surmised, he would be turned into one of the machines that Astronema just introduced him to.

"Astronema, don't do this," Zhane started to plead now. He started to feel a tingling feeling rise in his chest, at first he thought that he might have just been quivering with his new found fear, but then the electrical shock increased. Electricity coursed to out through his body into his limbs, causing him to shake involuntarily, but the wattage was not powerful enough to do any real harm. Whatever Astronema was doing, she was doing it slowly. Undoubtedly she could see how weak Zhane was and knew that this would have to be a slow process at first.

"Astronema, please," Zhane pleaded again, the words came out shaky against the pain and the convulsing that he could not stop his body from doing. Astronema of course ignored the plea and dramatically increased the strength of the power being sent into Zhane's body. Zhane yelled against the pain, "Karone!"

Calling Astronema by her real name did nothing to effect her. Zhane cried out again and again with the rising torment that he was being forced to endure. He feared for his friends. What would he be forced to do to them after this? Perhaps it was best if he did not survive this day.

* * *

"He's too weak," Ecliptor announced to Astronema. She stood studying the silver ranger, he had lost consciousness only moments earlier. Ecliptor was right, the silver ranger was weak from his imprisonment, but Astronema believed that he still had plenty of life left in him.

"He will be fine," Astronema disagreed with her general. "The brainwash will be the most difficult part for him, by then his powers will already be converted. The power will serve to sustain him."

Astronema knew, however, that the process of infecting the silver ranger's morpher with the virus she created would do its toll on the silver ranger as well. The young man had survived this long though, that was a good indicator that he would make it to the end of the process. The power transfer, which was simultaneous to the virus transfer, was also going to be brutal for the silver ranger to endure. The new power that the silver ranger's morpher was gaining had to be introduced to his body slowly. If it worked out the way Astronema had planned it that same brutal power transfer was what would end up keeping the silver ranger alive while her virus took over his morpher's system.

"Everything will work out," Astronema assured her general when Zhane's body stopped convulsing and settled into intermittent tremors instead. The transfers were complete. Now all that was left to be done was the brainwashing process.

* * *

Andros was barely able to contribute to the fight, but he could see that Darkonda was wearing down just from being outnumbered by the rangers. It forced him to work hard to defend himself.

"Bring them together, guys," Andros commanded his team to combine their weapons to form their Quadroblaster. While his teammates followed their orders Andros snapped his weapon together with his Astro Blaster to activate its booster mode.

As Andros suspected Darkonda started to squirm and to look for an exit. Andros tried his best to hurry up the processes of aiming his charging weapon at Darkonda so that he could fire it before the villain got away.

"Next time rangers," Darkonda spoke an instant before disappearing in a cloud of orange smoke.

"No!" Andros yelled before bringing a fist down on top of his weapon to release his frustration. He wanted Darkonda to pay for capturing his sister and now his best friend. Andros did not want the bounty hunter to pay for his evil works tomorrow, he wanted vengeance _today_.

"That attack seemed random," Cassie spoke breathlessly as she limped onto the bridge of the Astro Megaship with the rest of her teammates. She had her arm wrapped around her chest but otherwise she appeared to be fine.

"Aren't all their attacks typically random?" Ashley questioned with a matter-of-fact tone.

"I don't know," Carlos spoke up. "Cassie is right. Darkonda usually has a plan for his attacks, he's never been one to attack so openly."

"Perhaps he's Astronema's temporary replacement," TJ said thoughtfully. He eyed Andros as if studying him for a reaction. Perhaps he thought the comment might offend the red ranger. Andros really did not have a response for him, TJ could have been right. The only thing that Andros could contribute to the remark was to bitterly explain how Karone appeared as though she had already regained her role as Astronema the last time he had seen her. Why would there be a need for someone to take her place? No, the only thing that concerned Andros was the fact that Darkonda had been able to get away. Again.

The room fell silent. A few of the rangers exchanged unspoken conversations through glances while others looked blankly at the floor. Everyone was still going through the shock of the past few days. While most of them had little attachment to Karone, all of them were concerned over Zhane's fate. Part of Andros wanted to tell his teammates that the silver ranger might still be around if they had just tried to help him rescue Karone when they had the chance. To keep the peace Andros remained silent, for now.

With out saying a word Andros walked to one of the exits of the bridge.

"Andros, wait up," Ashley called from behind him after he had walked into the corridor. Andros felt his jaw tighten, he really did not feel like having company right now, even from Ashley. He kept walking hoping that Ashley would figure this out on her own, but, of course, she just kept following him. "Andros!"

Andros was forced to stop when Ashley grabbed hold of his arm, far more gently this time than she had before the fight with Darkonda.

"Ashley, I really don't-"

"I know," Ashley cut him off gently. She pressed her lips together. Her eyes twitched back and forth as she gazed down at the ground. It was not like her not to make eye contact, it was like she was trying to calculate her words carefully. When Ashley did look up Andros could see the sad concern in her dark brown eyes. "Andros, we all feel terrible about what happened. We all wanted this to turn out differently."

Andros literally had to bite his tongue to keep from making a retort on Ashley's statement. If the other rangers wanted things to turn out differently then why had they stood by while their friends put their lives at risk to save Karone? If they had come along perhaps Zhane would not have been captured. Of course, they had tried to stop Zhane from going in the first place. If he had not gone he would not have gotten captured. Plus, if the other rangers had tagged along, Zhane and Andros may never have made it as close to Karone as they had that day. The argument could go both ways, but somehow Andros could not help but feel a little resentful.

"We'll figure out how to get them back," Ashley promised. Andros was not so sure of that statement. He wanted to tell Ashley not to make promises she could not keep, but he did not feel he had the strength to do so right now. Not with out breaking down emotionally in front of the girl anyway. Ashley would not care if he did, but Andros preferred to keep his dignity. All he could do was nod his thanks to her and continue on to his quarters where he could finally try to get some rest.

* * *

Astronema stood before her newest ally and smirked with the pride of her accomplishment. Though the silver ranger now looked identical to the five machines that he would be working with, he was still human. His new appearance was brought on by armored plating only. The powers he now possessed were a combination of the ranger powers he already had and a little that Astronema had added from Dark Specter's power source for good measure.

Unlike the other five psycho rangers, however, the silver psycho ranger was not dependent on Dark Specter's powers to continue battling. His purpose for drawing on the overlord's power was simply to give him an added boost if he needed it for any given reason. It would also serve to drain Dark Specter's powers quicker when the time came for Astronema to take over his rule.

Stroking the fine metal of the silver ranger's new armor Astronema could not help but feel the chill of her upcoming victory. The rangers did not stand a chance against her new army. And Dark Specter would be a snap to defeat in comparison. Yes, Astronema was going to be the one that would defeat the rangers and take her rightful place as the ruler over the known universe.


End file.
